Theos-Talk Archives (August 2006 Message tt00247)

Several times in the past I have made it clear that I participate in 
this list as an individual student of Theosophy. I do represent in 
it nor speak in it on behalf of any organisation. My attitude has 
not changed.

I have read Hugh Shearman's biographical essay and am aware of Peter 
Michel's book, though not knowing German I am unable to read it. I 
hope an English translation will be published in the near future.
I have read Dr Tillett's "The Elder Brother" in 1989 at Adyar, from 
a copy at the Adyar Library and Research Centre.

During my last visit to Brazil I did a very limited amount of 
research on the presence of British railway companies in that 
country in the second half of the nineteenth century. One small but 
interesting result of this was the discovery that the company which 
is mentioned in C. Jinarajadasa's biographical notes on Leadbeater, 
the Bahia and San Francisco Railway Company, for which the latter's 
father had suposedly worked, did in fact operate in Brazil between 
1855 and 1901, and therefore during the period mentioned in CJ's 
notes.

Of course, the above does not prove that Charles Leadbeater did work 
in Brazil, but it seems to indicate the need for further research.

Pedro 



--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, gregory@... wrote:
>
> I agree with Pedro that there should be multiple biographies of 
Leadbeater.
> 
> He appears, however, to forget that there are already three – 
mine, the (brief)
> work by Hugh Shearman (Theosophist and Liberal Catholic Priest) 
and that by
> Peter Michel (Theosophist, and written in German: "Charles W. 
Leadbeater: Mit
> den Augen des Geistes").
> 
> Perhaps Pedro might explain why none of these – even that of 
Shearman, published
> by the St Alban Press, publishers to the Liberal Catholic Church – 
seems to have
> been reviewed (or even acknowledged) in a Liberal Catholic Church 
journal.
> Perhaps the reason is that all three acknowledge that Leadbeater 
was born in
> 1854, contrary to his claim to have been born in 1847.
> 
> No doubt Pedro will also be able to explain why, and on what 
basis, the 11th 
> meeting (1996) of the General Episcopal Synod of the Liberal 
Catholic Church,
> of which Pedro is now a member, declared, without explanation or 
evidence, that
> Leadbeater's correct birth date was 1847.
> 
> There are, of course, a number of biographical notes on Leadbeater 
in various
> Theosophical publications, including archival notes made by 
Jinarajadasa on the
> basis of (according to him) information provided by Leadbeater. 
The data in
> these notes, insofar as they relate to Leadbeater's family 
background, birth
> and early years, are all false.
> 
> An American publisher is eager to reprint "The Elder Brother" but 
I am hesitant
> to agree, given that I have acquired, in the years since that work 
was
> published, vastly more material on Leadbeater (all of it 
confirming my original
> account).
> 
> But I await with eager anticipation a new biography and encourage 
Pedro to begin
> one as soon as possible.
> 
> Dr Gregory Tillett
>